At least you had tiny bits of fleeting hope against the Patriots…. I had this happen

So I’m racing home from the radio show on Monday night to so that I can settle in for the Texans biggest game of the year – the game we were all waiting for against the Patriots. When I got home, my wife reminded me that I would have a couple of Marines coming to the house a little after 7 PM because my teenage son is considering joining the Marines and they wanted to have about 30 minutes to talk to me.

The Marines ended up getting to the house a little later than expected, but I had the game paused right at 7:30 so I would be ready to pick it up directly from Jon Gruden’s final, menacing smirk of the pre-game. The meeting with the Marines ended up going about 45 minutes and during that time, I had my cell phone buzz with a text message. I’m enough of a veteran to know not to check my phone when I have a game paused. I’m also veteran enough to know that text messages during games usually aren’t good news.

As I’m walking the Marines out of the house, I mention that I’m going to start watching the games and the staff sergeant says, “yeah, I got a text during the game about Schaub’s interception”.

Thanks, dude. Don’t worry about that spoiler alert since this is only the game I’ve been looking forward to watching more than all others this year.

As I go to turn the game on, I notice the television has been turned off so I turn it back on. What I had forgotten was that the “pause” is taken off when the TV is turned off so as the screen turns on, I’m smacked in the face with a live sporting event rather than a paused one. I tried to scramble for the remote and shield my eyes so that I could search the game back and not know what was going on, but it was too late. My eyes had caught the screen for what couldn’t have even been a single second and saw it right there in front of my eyes.

21 TO EFFING 0!!!!!!!!!!!

At least you guys got to see a first down on the first drive of the game when there was no score and the potential for a road victory and a statement to be made on the way to the Super Bowl. These were all things you could have fathomed. I could not.

The Texans started the game off down 21-0 in my world. I had 0% hope from the first second I watched the game. My viewing experience was over in a single second. All my hopes and dreams down the drain. Sure, in your world the Patriots scored first, but at least you got to clap and cheer a little as the Texans moved down the field in position to score before Schaub threw the INT in the endzone. At least you had brief, fleeting moments of hope.

I had nothing. Here is what the disappointment of starting your “game of the year” viewing experience down 21-0 felt like:

23 Responses

Got a similar story from when I was on assignment overseas in Japan about 15 years ago. We heard about a local bar (owned by an American) that was taping the Super Bowl, which was occurring live early in the morning while we were at work. Me and buddy managed to avoid letting anyone tell us the score ALL DAY LONG, including when our helpful Japanese partners put a BANNER in the work room with the final score.

So we make it to the bar that night, and the proprietor start the tape. Turns out he tacked it on to the end of one his personal tapes. Guy fast forwards TOO FAR and, on this projection screen TV, up pops the score in the THIRD QUARTER. It was one of those blowout Super Bowls. Loser already down by 4 touchdowns or whatever. So we say, okay, we’ll watch the rest and have a few beers. Only problem is, the guy’s tape RUNS out with 12:00 to play in the 4th quarter.

I feel your pain. I didn’t watch ESPN Skip Bayless and the rest of the analysts/Talk Radio all week so I could maintain my mental state of mind.

Oh yeah by the way…can someone PLEASE TELL WADE to STOP running Cover 1 100% of the time! Bill and Mr. Brady had all week to prepare for Cover 1. A high school coach would know better not to give a team like the Patriots to prepare they can easily DOMINATE!

Loss of Cush is just too much on that side of the ball. I will forever be a Texans fan, and I’m usually optimistic, but I think it’s time to think about next year. The D just can’t get it done since the Jets game, and the O hasn’t done much either after the Ravens game.

Don’t sweat it, Lance. All hope was lost at Schaub’s first interception. Actually, it started to slip away on the illegal contact penalty that gave the Pats a first down, and subsequently their first touchdown.

Why can’t wives understand that turning off the cable box negates the “pause?” If I had a nickel for every time my wife has done that…

Tell me, is that you that does the Gruden parodies on the radio? Hysterical. I was in tears listening the other day.

Good story Lance. Back in the 80’s I taped an Oiler’s game to watch. You know, with one of those VCR things we used back then. Got home without hearing the score, sit in the easy chair and put the game on. Phone rings, it’s my brother “what you doing?” I’m watching the game, I taped it. He says “don’t waste your time watching that game”. Auggghhhh, never answer the phone since then during a taped or DVR game!

What a story. What is so disheartening is that at the beginning of the game Foster ripped off some big runs and then New England calls a time out and it just stopped happening. Then after the Pats score we march down, get close, a little play action and Foster is wide open at about the 15 with NO ONE near who could stop him and instead Matt throws it into coverage in the end zone for all purposes the game was over right then and there. It seemed as if Matt never made a good decision after that and Kubiak got scared. Sometime in the 3rd quarter Kubiak seemed to just give up as the play calling was timid and useless. Like he just wanted the game over with. Good luck on your son and the Marines.

First of all, I really enjoy you and Charlie on the afternoon drive home, Lance. Keep it up.

Secondly, Brandon Harris looks like he is loooooong way away from being NFL ready. I guess this answers everyone’s question as to why the 2nd round draft pick has hardly seen the field the last 2 years.

Lance, I feel your pain brother. I’ve had very similar experiences myself. I’ve DVR’d a game, turned on the TV, and it’s on that channel – live. For what it’s worth, having that glimmer of hope crushed in one single moment may have been better than what the rest of us witnessed as all hope was strangled to death within one agonizing quarter of football. I know, like the rest of us, you’re probably still in shock. But, I would really enjoy your take on why and how this happened – at least to the extent that it happened. It looked like a repeat of the GB game, except we moved the ball better on offense and got better pressure on Brady. We just shot ourself in the foot on offense, and we seemed not to notice the 350 pound NT that was killing our pocket. Those first two runs of 10 and 15 yards were off tackle, and Tate always looks best running off tackle. But, we run straight up the middle, and you already mentioned Spikes – he’s an excellent run stuffer up the middle. Then Schaub drops straight back and has no time to step into anything. He was way off, but some of the play calling could have helped. Then, what in the world is going on with our coverage? Really looking forward to your take on this. Help the rest of understand what they were thinking.

Props on your son’s interest in becoming a Marine! My son became a Marine around 5 years ago, and it totally changed his life for the better. He’s successfuly completed two tours of active duty in Afghanistan, and while dangerous, he came home safe and sound. Watching him graduate from Basic Training in San Diego remains one of the proudest days of my life. Basic Training was very stresful on me, because any injury incurred could put him behind and cause a delay in his graduation. But thankfully, he graduated on time. During his tours of Active Duty I had a quiet peace that he would be okay, and he was. He’ll need to work on his swimming prior to Basic Training. One last word of advice–hold off on purchasing another formal Blue uniform until at least six months after his graduation, as the Marine will put on lots of weight since they were Recruits. I’m up for needing my third uniform already. Oh, if your son joins the ROTC in high school, he will graduate as a PFC rather than just a Private.

Well you coulda been like the Kuber and just look the other way and pretended you were not dowm 21 to 0.
He musta done just that. Cause he continued to call plays like he was up by 7 and neede to kill the freakin’ clock.

It was the Astros vs the White Sox in the World Series, fall of 2005. I’d been as Astros fan since the team’s inception, and as I am now living in Chicago, this series meant the world to me. I sat down for the Game One pre-game hoo-ha, surrounded by my TV snacks, and I hear Joe Morgan say that while he thought the Sox would win, the Astros wouldn’t be swept

I knew right then and there that the Astros would be swept. I threw away my snacks, changed the channel and didn’t watch a single inning of any of the four games because I couldn’t bear the humiliation.

Before the Pats game, I read a piece by some guy on NFL.com that said the same thing, that he favored the Pats but that he would be shocked if either team was the victim of a blowout. Once again, I saw the future clearly, so I didn’t even bother with the snacks. Didn’t watch a single down because I couldn’t face the humiliation on national TV.

I felt some hope when Pats backup QB Mallett’s pass was picked off with 2 minutes left. It was a perfect pass that bounced off the receiver’s hands into a Texans’ hands. This reminded me to never give up, remembering Oilers vs Bills and Cougars vs Irish in the Cotton Bowl.